ABSTRACT
Dr B. R. Ambedkar, the Chairman of the drafting committee of the Constitution of India, cautioned that a carefully drafted constitution could be perverted through administrative arrangements. The story of making and unmaking of Planning Commission is one of the best illustrations of how Ambedkar’s fears were true. This chapter unravels the politics of planning in the Indian context through the case study of the Planning Commission and its transformation to NITI AAYOG in 2014. The empirical evidence that is analyzed is based on different views coming from different states of India, particularly that of chief ministers and the reasons for the same. The chapter argues that while the politics of making the Planning Commission is overshadowed by de-politicization of development, the politics of unmaking the Planning Commission is primarily led by decreased space for politics in the context of economic liberalization.
